"Invest in Agrifood Companies" ... Gyeongbuk Province Holds 'Crowdfunding' Seminar

On the 6th, Gyeongbuk Province held an explanatory session on 'Agri-food Crowdfunding' at the provincial government office, targeting over 80 participants including 60 agri-food companies in the Gyeongbuk area, young startup farmers, sixth industry certified companies, and city and county government officials, in collaboration with the Agricultural Policy Insurance and Finance Service (hereinafter 'Nonggeumwon'), an affiliate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

'Agri-food Crowdfunding' is a compound word of Crowd + Funding, referring to raising funds from numerous small investors by utilizing 'The Wisdom of Crowds' on an intermediary's online platform.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

Gyeongbuk Province is ambitiously promoting agri-food crowdfunding as part of an 'Agricultural Great Transformation' that will completely change the existing agricultural support system by moving away from government and local government subsidies and loans, and instead having the public directly evaluate the value of products and companies, leading to investment.

The explanatory session, which began with Nonggeumwon's 'Understanding Agri-food Crowdfunding,' included presentations and Q&A sessions featuring companies that successfully attracted investment through crowdfunding, such as the food processing agricultural corporation 'Ograe' (Seongju), e-commerce company 'Meongmeonghanu' (Andong), and Robecall (Sejong).

Separately from the business briefing, a free consultation room was operated to provide one-on-one customized coaching between hopeful companies and professional consultants, helping participants understand how to participate in funding and strategies, thereby facilitating actual crowdfunding participation.

Gyeongbuk Province expects that this explanatory session will greatly help local agri-food companies and young startup farmers secure new sources of funding as well as expand agri-food sales channels.

A Gyeongbuk Province official stated, “If the approximately 60 agriculture-related companies attending the session wish to participate in crowdfunding, they can register through intermediaries such as Wadiz, Crowdly, OhmyCompany, and FundingForYou, and fundraising will proceed.”

Separately, since 2020, Gyeongbuk Province has been operating the 'Cheer Up Gyeongbuk! Agri-food Fund,' a regional specialization fund worth 11 billion KRW, together with Nonggeumwon to support investment attraction and startups in the agricultural industry sector. In July last year, they also attracted and have been operating the 'Gaonnuri Invesium Center,' Nonggeumwon's investment consultation center, in the new city of the provincial government office.

Kim Ju-ryeong, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Distribution Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “I hope this explanatory session will be a good opportunity to establish a self-reliant foundation for agri-food management entities in the province, which are facing difficulties due to low birth rates, aging, and accelerated population outflow,” and added, “We will continue to discover various programs that can induce stable settlement and growth of agri-food companies and young startup farmers.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.